Pain, Perspective, and Pulitzers

If you have ever thought we live in troubled times, 

this book may provide some much needed perspective.

1776 is an exemplary book, written by a two time Pulitzer Prize winner.

     On September 30th, 1776, George Washington, General of the Continental Army faced a mountain range of distressing situations, while carrying the weight of the would be Nation upon his shoulders.  He confided in a letter to his brother, Lund:  

     "Such is my situation that if I were to wish the bitterest curse to an enemy this side of the grave, I should put him in my stead with my feelings."  The General wrote that he was "wearied to death" and "In confidence I tell you that I never was in such an unhappy, divided state since I was born." 

- McCullough, p. 227

     Washington's words were strikingly similar to the Apostle Paul's in 2 Cor. 1:8-9:

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.  For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.  

Yet the Apostle brings a deep theology of hope to the issue of despairing afflictions:
But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

Great people have trodden 

upon paths of deep darkness.

You are not alone in facing dreadful 

heartache and the most bitter of circumstances.

Rather, you have joined the ranks of the
myriads who have traveled such broken roads.

The pages of history are full

of the accounts of these travelers.

  

One day such agonies shall be no more.
Until then:
  

When your strength is gone, 

there is more to be found

outside  of  yourself;

in Him who is not 

ever wearied. 

7 Biographies: To Turn the World Upside Down

The implications from these biographies are astounding.   

These books describe massive evils of humanity from fairly recent history, and tell of those who stood against the darkness.

The murderous nazi government, the conjoined evil twins of communism and atheism, and the horrible atrocities of slavery, and the ignorance breeding, controlling, theiving evils of God-less religion (which looks nothing like Jesus), each display a depth of darkness that abides in humanity.  These eyewitness accounts each have something important to communicate to us in our day.  

These seven also testify about the light that overcomes great darkness.         

I commend these books to you, your friends, and your family.  Invest in knowing history.  

- Unbreakable Joy

Recommended Resources

Recently I have been thinking about a resource list for new Christians, really for any Christians.  Here is what I have come up with thus far. 

What would you add?

RESOURCE LIST:

Free Bible Software for Computers:
E-Sword - http://www.e-sword.net/

Study Bible:
ESV Study Bible

Bible Commentaries:
New Bible Commentary,  by Gordon J. Wenham, J. Alec Motyer, Donald A. Carson and R. T. France
The Bible SpeaksToday, a commentary series edited by John Stott

For Children: 
Jesus Story Book Bible
The Little Pilgrim’s Progress

Biographies:
Bonhoeffer, by Eric Metaxas
Amazing Grace, the Life of William Wilberforce, by Eric Metaxas
Tortured for Christ, the Life of Richard Wurmbrand

Suffering:
The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God, by John Piper
The Loveliness of Christ, by Samuel Rutherford

Authors / Books:
Dr. John Piper – Desiring God, God is the Gospel, Future Grace
Dr. Tim Keller – The reason for God, The Prodigal God
C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity, The Weight of Glory, Screwtape Letters
Mark Driscoll – Vintage Church
R. C. Sproul – The Holiness of God
A. W. Tozer – The Pursuit of God, The Pursuit of Man
Jerry Bridges – The Disciplines of Grace, Trusting God
Francis Chan – Forgotten God, Crazy Love
John Stott – Basic Christianity, The Radical Disciple, The Cross of Christ
William Wilberforce – Real Christianity
Randy Alcorn – Heaven
Corrie Ten Boom - The Hiding Place
Jackie Pullinger - Chasing the Dragon
Philip Yancy – What’s So Amazing About Grace?
Rick Joyner - The Final Quest, The Call
J.I. Packer - Knowing God
Gary Thomas - Sacred Marriage
Dr. Wayne Grudem - Systematic Theology

Books on Preaching:
Preaching Christ in All of Scripture - Edmund Clowney
The Supremacy of Christ in Preaching - Dr. John Piper
Preaching and Preachers - D. Martin Lloyd-Jones
Christ-Centered Preaching - Bryan Chapell
Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture - Graeme Goldsworthy

Free & excellent audio / video / text bible teaching resources: 
DesiringGod.org (Dr. John Piper)
MarsHill.com (Pastor Mark Driscoll)

Biographical Messages (Audio):
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies/by-title

A Powerfully Potent Paragraph

The first paragraph of C.S. Lewis' excellent book, The Weight of Glory, is quite possibly one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful paragraph that I have ever read (apart from Scripture).

That said, I'm only going to post the first portion of that paragraph to highlight what I've been thinking about for a week or two now;

"If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point."

A few paraphrases from my recent meditations on this paragraph:

Love does not merely sacrifice self for the sake of an other, but love does so while sincerely pursuing the happiness of the other.

Love is not the delight one takes in an other, rather it is the delight one takes in delighting the other.

The happiness of an other is the end that love is the means to.

A Must Read:

Now nearly at the halfway point through the book "Bonhoeffer" by Eric Metaxas, I can no longer wait to write a review. So here is a first half review:

Metaxas' Bonhoeffer is an intensely compelling combination of history, theology, and biography. This insightful work is seriously educational and inspirational at the same time. Bonhoeffer has the potential to have a massive impact on our society, specifically upon the Christianity therein.

I must admit it is alarming to consider events and movements within Germany during the 1930's which bear a stunning similarity to movements in our day.

This book is a must read.

Quotes from Bonhoeffer

"Where a people prays, there is the church; and where the church is; there is never loneliness."


"It is much easier for me to imagine a praying murderer, a praying prostitute, that a vain person praying. Nothing is so at odds with prayer as vanity."


"Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued."


"The religion of Christ is not a tidbit after one's bread; on the contrary, it is the bread or it is nothing.  People should at least understand and concede this if they call themselves Christian."

- Detrich Bonhoeffer
Quotes taken from "Bonhoeffer" by Eric Metaxas

Subtitle: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

____________________

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed for a plot to assassinate Hitler
____________________

After enjoying John Bird's review of "Bonhoefer" I've just purchased a copy for myself.  The subtitle alone is sufficient motivation for me to read this book, not to mention the subject of the bio. Biographies have historically not been my favorite type of literature for they are often to boring to keep my attention.  This biography is different.  John was right and I cannot wait to read more!

2 Free Audio Books!

ChristianAudio.com is offering the following two excellent audio books as free downloads during the month of March:

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer


Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, by John Piper

Free Audio Books!

You've got to check this out:

BooksShouldBeFree.com

You'll thank me later.

My Favorite Book Available For Free!

Desiring God is the free audio book during the month of November from ChristianAudio.com.

Download it for free!

I am a little excited about this audio book being available for free because it happens to be my all time favorite book aside from the Bible. If you are one of those who have not yet been privileged to read this life changing book, check out a few reviews from amazon.com.

"He turned evil against itself"

"The cross was the worst that human evil and rebellion against God could do. At a purely human level it plumbed the depths of depravity, as the Gospels show with little need to embellish the facts. There were inflamed fanatics, corrupt religious leaders, lying witnesses, political conspiracy, vested interests, nationalist rage, morally bankrupt judicial process, excruciating torture, public shame, and taunting mockery; and even among the friends of Jesus there was treachery, betrayal, denial, and cowardice. At a more profound level, we know that all the powers of evil, satanic allied with human, were ranged against Christ and hurled their worst at him.

But Jesus, the Lamb of God, doing the perfect will of his Father, transformed all this into the triumph of divine love, absorbing and defeating it simultaneously. But the crucial point is this: not only did Jesus defeat all the powers of evil, he made them into the agents of his victory and their own defeat. He turned evil against itself to its own ultimate destruction." (emphasis added)

-Christopher Wright, The GOD i Don't Understand, pg. 67-68

Keller: The Reason For God

For more info check out TheReasonForGod.com

Reasoning in the Areopagus

"Skeptics believe that any exclusive claims to a superior knowledge of spiritual reality cannot be true. But this objection is itself a religious belief. It assumes God is unknowable, or that God is loving but not wrathful, or that God is an impersonal force rather than a person who speaks in Scripture. All of these are unprovable faith assumptions. In addition, their proponents believe they have a superior way to view things. They believe the world would be a better place if everyone dropped the traditional religions' views of God and truth and adopted theirs. Therefore, their view is also an "exclusive" claim about the nature of spiritual reality. If all such views are to be discouraged, this one should be as well. If it is not narrow to hold this view, then there is nothing inherently narrow about holding to traditional religious beliefs."

- Tim Keller, The Reason For God, pg. 12

I've just finished the intro and the first chapter of this book. The introduction may possibly be the most attention grabbing introduction that I have ever read. This book is Keller's effort at engaging in Paul's task of reasoning in the Areopagus. A friend recently recommended this book as the most important book he read last year. After reading the introduction and the first chapter I can see why.

Here is a great example (mp3) of Keller also doing this in his preaching.

A Great Resource Now Even Better!

The wonderful Jesus Storybook Bible is being re-released in a Deluxe Edition.

You can sample the audio from the new release! This will make a great family treasure even more accessible. My daughter and I have been through the Jesus Storybook Bible again and again. Now we will be able to go through it together in a new and refreshing way. We can't wait!

There is also a new website highlighting the book as well as more details about the new release.

You can pre-order this delightfully Scripture saturated, Christ-centered, and child-accessible work now! It will be released in October of 2009.

Lloyd-Jones on Preaching

Seek Him! Seek Him! What can we do without Him? Seek Him! Seek Him always. But go beyond seeking Him; expect Him. Do you expect anything to happen when you get up to preach in a pulpit?

Are you expecting it to be the turning point in someone's life? Are you expecting anyone to have a climactic experience? That is what preaching is meant to do. That is what you find in the Bible and in the subsequent history of the Church. Seek this power, expect this power, yearn for this power; and when the power comes, yield to Him. Do not resist. Forget all about your sermon if necessary. Let Him loose you, let Him manifest His power in you and through you.

Seek it until you have it; be content with nothing less. Go on until you can say, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." He is still able to do "exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think."

- Excerpts from the final page of Lloyd-Jones excellent book entitled, "Preaching and Preachers"

It was a great read! This informative and insightful work would be very helpful for anyone who has the wonderful opportunity to deliver the Lord's Word or for anyone who might desire to do so.

Free Audio Book

The free audio book of the month at ChristianAudio.com is Foxe's Book of Martyrs.

Looking for a good Christmas gift?

Check out a several book recommendations here.

HT:JT

A Future Read:

This looks to be a great book refocusing upon the true meaning of Christmas:

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas

Preview the preface and chapters 1 & 2 here.


HT: JT

Parting, only to Meet Again in Christ

He is not lost to you who is found to Christ. If he hath casten his bloom and flower, the bloom is fallen in heaven in Christ's lap; and as he was lent awhile to time, so is he given now to eternity, which will take yourself; and the difference of your shipping and his to heaven and Christ's shore, the land of life, is only in some few years, which weareth every day shorter, and some short and soon reckoned summers will give you a meeting with him.

Fall down and make a surrender of those that are gone, and these that are yet alive, to him. And for you, let him have all; and wait for himself, for he will come and will not tarry. Live by faith... He cannot die whose ye are.

Passing Pain & Eternal Glory

The sea-sick passenger shall come to land; Christ will be the first that will meet you on the shore.

I pray you learn to be worthy of his pains who correcteth; and let him wring, and be ye washed; for he hath a Father's heart, and a Father's hand, who is training you up, and making you meet for the high hall.

One year's time of heaven shall swallow up all sorrows, even beyond all comparison.

Christ is as full a feast as ye can have to hunger.

- Samuel Rutherford, The Loveliness of Christ